Meet the 20-Year-Old Who Ran 400 KM With David Goggins

Happy 4th Tuesday of 2026,

Welcome back to Stay Curious — a newsletter I write once per week on 3 things keeping me curious or I send one of you $100 as a penalty. So far, I’m 4/4.

Here’s what’s on my mind this week:

1. 20-Year-Olds That Do Crazy Shit

If you’ve ever caught yourself saying, “Gen Z is lazy as heck” or “Gen Z can barely hold a job,” you gotta eat your words and meet my new friend Valentino.

This guy is cut from a different cloth.

Yesterday morning, we grabbed a jog and cortado catch up because I heard on social media he completed a 400KM race over 115 hours in the Moab Desert 2 months ago. Ya, absolute insanity.

Sure enough, we catch up, he tells me all the stories, how he ran for 5 days straight with 12 hours of sleep, and I learned he runs his own window cleaning business.

I walked away absolutely fired up.

To think he left his country (Ukraine), conquered the world's toughest race 2 months ago and started a business all before he turns 21 makes me smirk.

This guy’s knocked off more misogi’s than all of Canada’s combined.

2. Rethinking “Business Books”

I’ve started tinkering on a business book idea, but it’s not a novel. I’m thinking 50 visuals from 50 founders & investors I look up to

• tested concepts,

• go-to frameworks,

• favourite lesons learned

Here’s the question: would you buy a copy if I did the work?

Reply and tell me “yes” or “no”, cuz i don’t wanna waste my year if none of y’all care

3. Fireside Chat with LinkedIn Canada Director

I’m hosting a live fireside conversation with the Country Director of LinkedIn Canada in early March 🇨🇦 — and I’d love your input.

This isn’t a scripted keynote — it’s going to be a real, conversational deep-dive into leadership, community building, and where professional platforms are heading next.

What would YOU want to ask her?

Photo of the week:

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Stay curious,

Joel

You can hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn. But the true besties hit me up on Strava and IG.

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